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News Triple-digit temperatures could bring blackouts in New York City, DC and Chicago

Olivia Sanchez,USA TODAY•July 17, 2019 An upcoming heat wave could lead to power outages in the central and eastern U.S., including the major metropolitan areas of New York City, Washington and Chicago, experts say.

As temperatures rise and more people turn to their air conditioners for relief from the heat, the demand for power can become overwhelming, according to Jay Apt, a professor and co-director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center.“There is always high demand in the summer – air conditioning is very power intensive and you will always have some failures of equipment,” Apt said.A widespread blackout in New York City on Saturday left much of Manhattan without electricity. That power outage was not caused by heat, but by a transformer fire, according to New York fire officials. Con Edison estimates that about 73,000 people were without power during the blackout Saturday.With temperatures forecast to reach 100 degrees in New York City by Saturday, according to the Weather Channel, a Con Edison spokesperson warned of additional blackouts, though on a smaller scale.

NWS Eastern Region

✔@NWSEastern

Very hot and humid conditions are expected across the Eastern US for the end of the week into the weekend. In addition to extremely hot daytime temperatures, overnight lows in most areas are not expected for fall below the mid-upper 70s, or even the lower 80s in some urban areas.

With heat and humidity as intense as predicted, Con Edison is prepared for “scattered outages” in Manhattan, and parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, spokesperson Allan Drury said Tuesday.

Manhattan is served exclusively by underground delivery systems that inevitably heat up as the ground warms, and those systems are put under further strain by increased demand for power, Drury said.

Buildings in Manhattan were without power after an outage July 13, 2019.

The Washington area, which is served primarily by underground systems, is also expecting extreme heat and humidity this week. Christina Harper, a spokesperson for Pepco, said the city’s primary public utility company is preparing for the possibility of power outages, although they are not necessarily expecting them.

Temperatures in the D.C. metro area are expected to reach the high 90s this week, according to the Weather Channel, and could top 100 degrees on Saturday.

“We are ready,” Harper said. She encouraged all customers to download the Pepco app, which will allow them to easily report a power outage and access an interactive map of local outages.

Officials from ComEd in Chicago are also preparing for extreme temperatures – Friday is forecast to be the hottest, with a high of 96 degrees, according to the Weather Channel.

“When you have extreme weather of any kind, it can put stress on any system and can cause outages,” said Terence Donnelly, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “We’re watching the pending hot weather moving into our system very closely, we have scheduled our emergency response center to open up and we have scheduled extra crews scheduled to work extra hours.”

Here are some ways to stay cool and prevent losing power, according to Con Edison, Pepco and ComEd:

Turn off your air conditioner before leaving home. If you can, use a timer to turn it back on about 30 minutes before you expect to return home.

Only use air conditioning in rooms that you are actively using. Block vents or turn off room-specific air conditioning units in unused rooms.

Keep your curtains and shades drawn. About 40% of unwanted heat comes in through windows.

Run appliances like ovens or washing machines in the early morning or late evening to reduce the amount of heat and moisture in your home.

Use fans if you can, but remember to leave your windows open for ventilation. Fans use as little as one-tenth the electricity of an air conditioner.

Unplug all appliances and light fixtures when you are not using them. A single light bulb can add heat to a room.

The Latest: Phoenix reaches hottest temperature of the year

Phoenix Excessive Heat

Elephant keeper Monica Uhl cools off „Reba”, an Asian elephant at the Phoenix Zoo, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Phoenix. Forecasters are predicting that the temperature on Tuesday could hit a scorching high of 115 degrees. The Phoenix Zoo use spraying, frozen treats and shaded area’s to keep their animals cool. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on high temperatures in Phoenix (all times local):

2:55 p.m.

Phoenix is having its hottest day of the year.

The National Weather Service in Phoenix confirmed on social media Tuesday afternoon that the city’s high temperature has hit 115 degrees.

The sweltering conditions prompted the agency to issue an excessive heat warning earlier in the day. It remains in effect until 8 p.m.

Residents are urged to take several precautions.

They include drinking water even when you’re not thirsty, cutting down on time in the sun and avoiding outdoor activity in the afternoon.

Officials also are reminding people to not leave children or pets in their cars.

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10:20 a.m.

Phoenix is bracing for what could be the city’s hottest day so far this year.

Forecasters are predicting that the temperature on Tuesday could hit a scorching high of 115 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning to take effect until 8 p.m.

Residents are urged to take several precautions.

They include drinking water even when you’re not thirsty, cutting down on time in the sun and avoiding outdoor activity in the afternoon.

Officials also are reminding people to not leave children or pets in their cars.

Tropical Weather This Sunday, July 14, 2019, image made from a cellphone video provided by the Mississippi Governor’s Office shows the flooded welcome sign at the entrance to Eagle Lake community near Vicksburg, Miss. In a Monday, July 15, posting of the short video on Twitter, Gov. Phil Bryant made reference that „the South Delta has become an ocean,” with the additional rainfall from Tropical Depression Barry, while calling on the federal government to build pumps to drain water from the confluence of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers. (Bobby Morgan/Office of Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant via AP)MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A suspected tornado struck a rural area of north Mississippi on Tuesday, damaging homes and knocking down trees and power lines as the wet remnants of Tropical Storm Barry rumbled through several states, officials said.A storm that may have included a tornado passed through Victoria, Mississippi, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, National Weather Service forecaster Andrew Chiuppi said.About a dozen homes were damaged by either straight-line winds or a tornado, Marshall County Emergency Management Director Hugh Hollowell said. A few people were checked out for very minor injuries, he said.Crews were trying Tuesday afternoon to reach areas that were blocked off by large, fallen trees and downed, active power lines, Hollowell said.Weather service experts were going to survey the area to confirm whether a tornado touched down.Marshall County resident Jennifer Foy told WREG-TV that windows were blown out of her home.All we heard was a loud boom,” Foy said. „I guess it was a transformer blowing, and the wind just started moving things across the porch, and it started moving my grill across the porch, so I grabbed the kids and threw them into the bathtub.”Storms caused by what was left of Barry have soaked parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, causing flash flooding in rural areas and prompting the shutdown of a stretch of interstate that links Little Rock and Dallas because of water on the road.Barry spared New Orleans and Baton Rouge from catastrophic flooding but still drenched other parts of Louisiana with torrential rains. Cities as far as Memphis reported heavy rain from Barry: More than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain have fallen since Friday, Chiuppi said.In Arkadelphia, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Little Rock, heavy rains inundated an animal shelter, and the shelter says one puppy died.By 2 p.m. Arkansas Department of Transportation officials said lanes in both directions of Interstate 30, which had been closed due to flooding, were reopened. One small section heading eastbound remained closed while crews addressed slope erosion._This story has been corrected to cite WREG-TV, not WMC-TV.

News

The Latest: Suspected tornado part of Barry’s remnants

Tropical Weather

Roadways and yards are flooded after heavy rain from Tropical Depression Barry fell in Lake Charles, La. Monday, July 15, 2019. Barry was downgraded from a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon, but its torrential rains continued to pose a threat Monday. Much of Louisiana and Mississippi were under flash-flood watches, as were parts of Arkansas, eastern Texas, western Tennessee and southeastern Missouri. (Kirk Meche/Lake Charles American Press via AP)

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on the effects of the remnants of Hurricane Barry (all times local):

2:50 p.m.

Officials say a suspected tornado has moved through a rural area of north Mississippi, damaging homes and knocking down trees and power lines.

National Weather Service forecaster Andrew Chiuppi in Memphis says a storm that may have included a tornado passed through Victoria, Mississippi, on Tuesday.

Marshall County Emergency Management Director Hugh Hollowell says about a dozen homes were damaged by either straight-line winds or a tornado. Hollowell says a few people were checked out for very minor injuries.

Hollowell says crews were trying to get to areas were blocked off by large trees and downed, active power lines.

Weather service experts are going to survey the area to confirm whether a tornado touched down.

The remnants of Hurricane Barry have soaked parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, causing flash flooding in rural areas.

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6:40 a.m.

Forecasters are warning of extreme flash flooding in parts of Arkansas as the remnants of a massive tropical storm drift through the state.

The National Weather Service says 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 centimeters) of rain has fallen early Tuesday in the southwest part of the state. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the remnants of Barry are expected to drop another 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 centimeters) of rain in parts of southern Arkansas, northern Mississippi and far southwestern Tennessee.

As of 4 a.m. Tuesday, the center of the storm was about 205 miles (335 kilometers) north of Little Rock.

Barry spared New Orleans and Baton Rouge from catastrophic flooding but still drenched other parts of Louisiana with torrential rains.

Sheryl Powell disappeared from the Grandview campground in the White Mountains on Friday while taking her dog for a walk as her husband, Joseph Powell, prepared to set up camp.

Searchers worried Powell, 60, would struggle to survive in rugged terrain with no water, little shade and no cell phone signals to call for help.

Her family worried Powell could have been abducted while social media speculation centered on Joseph Powell, who investigators and the family were adamant had no connection to her disappearance.

After three dispiriting days the search hit a milestone late Monday morning when rescuers found the dog, Miley, alive about 2.5 miles from where Powell went missing.

Within a few hours rescuers reported finding Powell herself, alive but exhausted by the ordeal.

„Searchers describe her as resilient and strong but exhausted after being lost in an extremely remote area above Big Pine, (California),” the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Facebook post.

„We are beyond grateful for the continued support from her family, local residents, visitors, and the media. We also cannot thank our assisting agencies enough for their amazingly hard work in difficult terrain throughout this 4-day search.”

Farrah Powell, a daughter who launched an online fundraising drive to help with the search and posted updates on Facebook, published a photo of the family together in a hospital room on Monday afternoon.

„This is the happiest day of our lives,” the post stated. „We can’t thank everyone enough.”

The site where the couple was preparing to camp is located at about 8,600 feet in elevation in a remote area with steep terrain, no water and very little shade.

“It is primarily a lot of rocky slopes and difficult shale type terrain,” said Carma Roper, a spokesperson for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office.

The area also lacks cellular reception which adds to the difficulty of the search.

“That has definitely been one of the challenges,” Roper said.

A hiker looking east at the Nevada desert from California’s White Mountains in August, 2015. Sheryl Powell, 60, of Huntington Beach, Calif., went missing July 12, 2019, at the Grandview Campground in the remote, rugged range.

What happened the day she disappeared

According to authorities, the couple from Huntington Beach, California, was preparing to make camp at around 2 p.m. when Sheryl Powell went missing.

The sheriff’s department said while Joseph Powell was positioning their Jeep, Sheryl Powell took the couple’s small, black-and-white dog, Miley, for a walk and didn’t return.

When Sheryl Powell and Miley didn’t return, Joseph Powell started looking for them. After about an hour he used a satellite messaging device to call for help, authorities stated.

Authorities described Sheryl Powell as an experienced outdoorswoman.

Hazards in the area include hot weather, lack of shade, steep, rocky terrain, venomous snakes, lack of water and difficult communication.

Searchers worked via helicopter and on foot along with help from search dogs.

A Facebook post from the Inyo Sheriff’s Department listed 14 agencies participating in the search.

‘Mr. Powell had no connection’ to wife’s disappearance

Roper said that investigators quickly ruled out any connection between Joseph Powell and the disappearance, despite social media speculation that proved inaccurate.

“After thoroughly interviewing him they are confident in saying Mr. Powell had no connection,” Roper said. “We really want to eliminate that rumor.”

Facebook posts and an online fundraising page Farrah Powell said the family worried Sheryl Powell may have been abducted.

“We spent the entire day searching today as well but still no trace except the footprints she left at the campground,” the fundraising page states. “ … a major concern we have is in my mind there is a high likelihood of abduction which many rescue personnel are skeptical of.”

The page also highlighted a frustrating lack of clues, saying there’s „still no trace (of Powell) except the footprints she left at the campground.”

It also described the emotional strain on Joseph Powell, saying the couple has been married for 42 years.

„My parents have an extremely loving relationship and my dad (who has refused to leave the campsite) is on the verge of breakdown,” the page stated.

Messages to the family sent from the Reno Gazette Journal via Facebook and the fundraising pages were not immediately returned.

Roper said authorities didn’t rule out the possibility of abduction. But efforts focused on the search and their persistence paid off when they found Powell alive.